Rex: Cutting off Whitehouse's Air Supply

Created 08/02/2009 - 11:00pm

His career is now cold but Rex knows the passion was hot. State Sen. Paul Stanley announced his resignation from office last week after the firestorm of publicity surrounding the “alleged” attempted blackmailing of the conservative family values legislator.

Rex watched as he twisted and turned in the wind before he finally succumbed to the inevitable and threw in his boxers… I mean towel.

What was interesting to Rex were the rumors that Stanley spawned, leaving a rash of his now soon to be former colleagues feeling exposed and unprotected. Since Stanley resigned Rex has heard sweet nothings whispered into his ear about legislators on both sides of the aisle that supposedly have had dalliances with everyone from interns to lobbyists.

It’s frankly kind of scary how the same names kept popping up attached to several different people. Dogged by rumors, Rex will be keeping a close eye on the hill to see whose rosy cheeks were exposed when they dropped their legislative briefs.

Bloggers will no doubt be watching as well, offering up their two cents as they did over the course of the entire Stanley affair(s). Rex did think it funny what he read over at the Nashville Scene’s blog Pith in the Wind. Their reporter Jeff Woods had posted a compilation of the Stanley happenings and cited the work of NashvillePost.com/City Paper reporter Ken Whitehouse. Whitehouse was reporting that Stanley had strayed from the fold more than he had probably told his wife.

In the comments section, an anonymous blogger apparently trying to defend Stanley, attacked Whitehouse by writing, “And Whitehouse is such a morally upstanding legislator who has never sexually harassed another legislator...”

Scene editors pointed out that Whitehouse is one of our reporters and not a legislator, but well known blogger “Aunt B.” couldn’t resist and chimed in with “Unless Whitehouse has a terrible secret...”

Hey Aunt B., Rex has checked and Whitehouse is not a legislator. When asked about any other terrible secrets he may have he said, “I occasionally listen to Air Supply.”

Rex promptly slapped some sense into him.
TPAC gives Dolly a lift

While Rex admits that it would be wrong to say Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical was a bust on Broadway, that fact that ticket sales were somewhat flat gives the Tennessee Performing Arts Center a firm hold on launching the show’s national tour in Nashville.

Yeah, Rex feels your groans, but he just couldn’t resist.

The show, based on the movie that was based on Parton’s hit song, will reopen here in September 2010, TPAC announced on Thursday. Despite being nominated for four 2009 Tony Awards and winning one Drama Desk Award, 9 to 5 will end its Broadway run on Sept. 6.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better experience on my first Broadway show,” Parton said in a statement. “I can’t wait for this show to hit the road so people across the country can see why I’m so proud of everyone involved. And I’m so pleased that we’ll be opening the tour in Nashville. Great things happen in Nashville.”

Attendance for 9 to 5 hit around the 75 percent mark for most of the summer, according trade association data.

“We just couldn’t be happier,” said TPAC CEO Kathleen O’Brien, adding that 9 to 5 would mark the first time the arts center had launched a major touring production — which when in town for several weeks is an economic boon. “When you’re able to launch a tour, you’re able to be the site for a real, organic process of developing the piece for the stage.”

Now it was O’Brien that said ‘organic,’ not Rex, so don’t roll your eyes again.